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Monday, September 10, 2007

Ok....so like many, my belly is my main place that I am storing fat (energy...haa haa haa). And yes, the belly has gotten much smaller during this journey...but sometimes I despair that it will ever be gone! (Wouldn't that be a freaky site....a thin person with this huge blob of fat in the front!) Anyway...so I decided to mosey around and see what I can find. So far my findings have not surprised me.

It won't surprise you to learn that the best way to lose abdominal fat is to eat right and exercise regularly. And there's a growing body of research showing that the fastest way to burn off the fat from your belly is with a combination of weight-training and aerobic exercise.Some evidence for this comes from a six-month study of thirty obese women [6]. They were assigned to one of three groups: a control group, an aerobic exercise group and a combined exercise group.The aerobic group did one hour of cardiovascular exercise (60-70% maximum heart rate) six days a week. The combined exercise program involved weight training (3 days a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday) and aerobic exercise (3 days a week, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday).Here's what the combined exercise program looked like:Monday — Weight training (60 minutes)Tuesday — Aerobic exercise (60 minutes)Wednesday — Weight training (60 minutes)Thursday — Aerobic exercise (60 minutes)Friday — Weight training (60 minutes)Saturday — Aerobic exercise (60 minutes)Sunday — Off The combined exercise group lost almost three times more abdominal subcutaneous fat and 13% more visceral fat than the aerobic-only group.

2. taken from http://www.tranquillizer.co.uk/articles/How-To-Lose-Belly-Fat.htmlHow to Lose Belly Fat - Rule One - AlcoholDecrease that alcohol consumption. I am sure that most people know that alcohol can cause weight gain, but I am certain that they do not know the degree of impact that alcohol can cause. Excess alcohol consumption can really give you that belly. Have you seen people that are slim all over but have a belly sticking out? Well, that is effect of excess alcohol consumption. One gram of alcohol, which is can be calculated as one ml of alcohol contains 7 calories. Even thought the amount of calories is lesser than of fat, alcohol calories are completely useless. Alcohol does not contain any nutrients at all. So, the entire amount of calories consumed through alcohol will be stored as fat! Alcohol is also in the form of liquid. That means, you can really consume a lot at one sitting! I am not saying that you should avoid alcohol totally, just go for moderation. Do not drink everyday and limit your self to one glass of wine or one bottle of beer.How to Lose Belly Fat - Rule Two - Late Night SnacksTry not to have late night snacks. Late night snacks are a favorite because we usually snack while we watch a late night movie, have supper with friends to have chitchat and sometimes, if we work late, we also tend to eat very late at night. The only problem with late night snacking is that there is not much activity done after that. People go straight to bed right after the late night meal because they are tired. So, this will cause high sugar levels in the blood stream and no energy spent after that. The excess sugar will just turn into fat and be stored under the skin. Try to consume you last meal around 2-3 hours before your bedtime. If you are hungry during late nights, consume a small meal instead which just enough to fill your stomach.How to Lose Belly Fat - Rule Three - CarbohydratesSlow down on the carbohydrates and bulk up your vegetables instead. Consuming too much carbohydrate can bump up your insulin level which can slow down your metabolism. Your body cannot metabolize too much carbohydrate at once because the body doesn’t need so much energy at once. The excess sugar will just turn into body fat.Combine your meals with a good combination of protein, carbohydrate and vegetables. Your source of protein should be in a size of a deck of cards; the carbohydrates in a size of your palm and the major bulk of your meals should come from vegetables.How to Lose Belly Fat - Rule Four - Junk FoodThrow out the junk food and forget about the junk food! You are what you eat. If you eat a lot of junk with a lot of high saturated fats, then you will end up like fat with a junk heart! Do not store junk food like cookies, chips, sweets and other similar products in your house. If you do not have these bad foods lying around, you will not think about it and after sometime, you will break the bad eating habits.How to Lose Belly Fat - Rule Five - ExerciseExercise, exercise, exercise! Get your lazy but off the couch, put down the beer and head on to the gym. A fitness center, gym or a health club is for everyone. Do not feel shy going into these places. If you do not know how to get started, hire a personal trainer to kick off your new healthy lifestyle. If you want to exercise by yourself, get some books on weight loss and exercise to help you start off the right track. I highly recommend the “ Metabolic Surge” weight loss exercise program because it covers the fundamentals of exercise. Workout with weights at least 2 times per week and do your cardio at least 3 times a week. Each weight session is around 45 minutes and each cardio session is around 30 mins. So, actually, you can just workout 3 times a week. 2 days you will combine weights and cardio and on one day you just do your cardio. Its actually very little time spent on your health. Everybody have time, it’s just that you have to make the time and put your health as your priority.

After a good weigh in, especially one that follows a jump downward on the scale (like yesterdays weigh in!), I get nervous. I tend to let myself obsess about my weight. I worry about the next day, not wanting to be disappointed if the numbers are higher! Yesterday though, I ate carefully...ok carefully isn't a good word. Yesterday I ate wisely, so I knew that I should be ok. Even so, this morning it was with fear and trepidation that I stepped onto the scales. 188.2! Not a big drop, but a drop (.2). Looks to me like that weigh may be sticking around! I've already laid out my plans on what to eat today. Tomorrow is the official weigh in! Crossing my fingers on that!

I'm hoping to get out and finish my mowing this afternoon. That will give me some extra activity. That and I need to dead head our flower garden. I will then finish drying the heads on my drying racks and we will use the seeds from those heads for our garden next year. We are trying to get a ton of seeds this year. Mainly because next year we will be planting two flower gardens, one at the studio and one on Mondell Road. So we are trying to save as many seeds as possible! Plus, I'll be making dinner tonight, of course. :-)

Yesterday had another comment on my weight. It was someone that I've seen, but they usually see me in my scrungy clothes (ie my old tee shirts that are too big, and baggy shorts.....workout clothes and/or garden/work clothes...) So this person actually saw me right after we left church, and I was wearing that clothes that actually fit...and with a more tailored fit.

Speaking of a more tailored fit....it does take some getting used to. For such a long time I wore more loose fitting, free flowing clothes. Trying to hide my weight. So now I'm wearing more form fitting shirts. It really is a different feel!

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About Me

I am pretty laid back. I am newly single and the fallout of that change in my life sometimes seems to overwhelm me. However, I will admit, stretching out with the whole bed to myself is fantastic. I am determined to get my weight back in check once and for-all as I learn to navigate this single thing. I am filling some of my free time with some various activities.....running, piano and remodeling and refurbishing a dollhouse. My life is wide open before me....the pages are blank. It's up to me to decide how it's going to look!